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Staffing

Examiner: Noah MbanoModerator: Warren Midgley

Rationale

Sociolinguistics is a diverse and dynamically growing area of linguistics and its scope is highly relevant to all educational contexts. Some of the key contexts include the education of minority children and speakers of non-standard language varieties as well as all contexts of foreign language education.

Synopsis

Language is inextricable from the society in which it is used. This course provides students with an overview of the most relevant topics concerned with language and society, as well as language and culture. It provides educators, applied linguists and language teachers with an understanding of the social aspects of language, including the most topical issues of language planning and policy, societal aspects of language use, attitudes towards social dialects and other language varieties. This course is useful not only for teachers and educators but also for those who take advocacy in maintaining native and community languages, including language program managers at institutional as well as national levels. NOTE: Minimum enrolment numbers apply to this offering. Should enrolments not reach the minimum number required for on-campus study, students may be transferred to the ONLINE offering and advised of this change before semester commences.

Objectives

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On completion of this course students will be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of the scope of sociolinguistics and the sociology of language (Essay and Discussion Board Journal)

compare different language varieties, demonstrate an understanding of societal attitudes towards languages and discuss the implications for education and society as a whole (Presentation, Essay and Discussion Board Journal)

discuss the factors influencing the choice of different languages for communication in various contexts (Presentation and Discussion Board Journal)

discuss and describe the interrelationship between language and culture and how culture affects our everyday communication (Presentation, Discussion Board Journal and Essay)

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=03&subject1=LIN8015)

Student workload requirements

Assessment details

Description

Marks out of

Wtg (%)

Due Date

Notes

ESSAY

40

40

05 Feb 2014

DISCUSSION BOARD JOURNAL

20

20

07 Feb 2014

PRESENTATION

40

40

07 Feb 2014

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

Examination information:
There is no examination in this course.

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing

Other requirements

Students must submit both assignments and the journal/discussion board entries.